follow the blue
by paquerettes
Summary: Mako and Bolin are coming home. Not to an empty apartment this time, but to a girl with seas for eyes.


_fandom_: legend of korra and fullmetal alchemist (brotherhood)  
pairing/characters: makorra, hinted bolirima  
_rating_: K+  
_description_: mako and bolin are coming home. not to an empty appartment this time, but to a girl with seas for eyes.  
_A/N_: this is something I wrote for beastlygreen10 for the avatar secret santa! I hope you enjoy and merry christmas! I'm not quite sure myself how far this crossover extends, so I'll leave whether bolin was actually stuck in a suit of armour up to you. reviews are appreciated and thanks for your time!

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"Hey, you okay, Bo?"

Bolin tilted his head up to look his brother in the eyes, and blinked rapidly a few times to get the sunlight from his eyes.

"Yeah," he replied immediately. "I just didn't realize my muscles would have atrophied this much on the other side."

Mako tugged at his scarf, bring it to cover half his face. He peered off into the distance as if choosing not to look at Bolin. He didn't really know what he was looking for anyways, since as far as he could see, there was only snow.

"Do you need me to carry you?"

"No, thanks, I want to walk around on my own."

Mako gave a little noise from behind his scarf, and helped Bolin up from his seat in the snow. And, together, they began to walk, Bolin dragging a little behind. Cold wind bit at every inch of skin it could find, though not even the barren landscape of the Southern Water Tribe could nullify the aura of warmth surrounding the two brothers. Bolin stole a quick glance at his brother's back, which was tense as usual.

"Thank you," he spoke out. "Thanks, big bro."

Mako's back straightened slightly, and the taller brother sent a narrow-eyed look back at Bolin, his eyebrows arching up ridiculously.

"What. Stop being weird."

A breathy chuckle.

And after that they walked slowly, silently, the only sounds the squawking of otter penguins in the distance, and the soft patter of their boots on snow.

"I hope Kirima is okay," Bolin spoke up again, never one to enjoy silence.

Another side-eyed glance that went as quickly as it came.

"It's been a few weeks, I bet they're all back in the Northern Water Tribe now."

Bolin's loud laugh elicited even a smile from Mako.

"Yeah, we sure made a lot of friends."

"Especially you," Mako noted with something edging his usually stoic voice. "You got pretty close with a certain princess. You aiming to be the future prince of the Northern Water Tribe?"

His brother's coy remark caught Bolin off guard.

"Heh. Don't be ridiculous."

"But she is a nice girl," he added on a second later. Typical, Mako smirked to himself.

Bolin threw his hands up as if trying to throw that thought away.

"Forget about that, what about you? And Korra?"

Suddenly, Mako lurched to a stop, not far from the familiar softly glowing ice house. A massive figure stirred somewhere beyond the door.

"NAGA! WE'RE HOME, GIRL!" Bolin whooped and extended his arms towards the wary polar bear dog.  
A huge bark and a wet tongue later, Bolin and Naga were buried in the snowy ground rolling and tossing and laughing. Even Mako threw his head back and laughed with them, glad to finally be able to see his little brother's face, full of joy…and slobber.

Inside, there was some distant clanging and cursing. And footsteps. Mako braced himself to be hit in the head with ice water. Korra would not be happy that they had returned without even sending a message. But honestly, clothes dry, frostbite heals. All he wanted to do was to see her again. As if the spirits were granting his silent wish, a bedheaded Korra appeared behind the tattered cloth screen separating the warm inside of the house and the howling cold outside. Soft realization dawned, and her eyes expanded to an almost humourously large size. Mako gave a small wave her way, still scared that she might cause internal bleeding. Bolin looked up too and cheered.

"We're home, Korra!"

"Yeah," Mako added.

Before either of them could react, Korra stomped the ground and used earthbending to propel her forward into the brothers, flying at them at super speed. All three of them tumbled to the snow covered ground, one screeching, one laughing, one still trying to keep cool.

"Welcome home, you idiots!" Korra all but screamed at them, her face half covered by her wide coat sleeve (though it was painfully obvious that she was tearing up). "Don't think I won't beat both your asses later! Just because I'm crying!"

Finally, Mako's face broke into a huge smile, uncontrollable laughter wracking his body. Was it fear? Was it relief? He didn't know, but he couldn't stop.

"Thanks," he coughed out, trying to ignore the cold now blooming on his back.

"It's great to be back," Bolin chuckled.

It seemed like a happy eternity before the three got up again, dusted off their clothes and trudged back into the house with stories on their cold lips.


End file.
